The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
On mobile platforms such as commercial aircraft, buses, trains, ships, etc., crew members must often work for extended periods of time before the mobile platform reaches its destination. It is highly advantageous if members of the crew have an area that they can repose to for brief rest periods away from other activities taking place on board the mobile platform. Such crew rest areas should ideally provide an additional degree of privacy to the crew members when the crew members are resting, and even more preferably provide a place where a crew member can lay down and relax.
On many forms of mobile platforms, and particularly on a commercial aircraft, space for crew rest areas is very limited. Space may be found at the forward or aft end of the aircraft, in a passenger cabin area, or near the flight deck, depending upon the size and configuration of the particular aircraft. Therefore, it would be especially desirable to provide a crew rest module that can be adapted for use on a mobile platform where space is extremely limited, and particularly on a commercial aircraft.
In addition to space limitations to accommodate the crew rest, crew rests are provided as large, pre-assembled, and free-standing monuments and often must be installed prior to the final assembly of the frame or the fuselage of the mobile platform to allow sufficient clearance for its placement in and securing to the mobile platform. The pre-assembled crew rest adds extra weight to the mobile platform due to the internal support and bracketry of the pre-assembled monument. The heavy weight and pre-assembled attributes may make some crew rests difficult or awkward to install. It is desirable to provide a crew rest that is light weight, efficient to install, and does not require installation prior to the final assembly of the mobile platform.
It would also be highly desirable if the crew rest module could accommodate at least a pair of individuals simultaneously while creating a very limited footprint, and thus form a highly space efficient structure within the mobile platform.